William oland bourne



i W. o. BOURNE.

Bed for Ore Separators. l

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\ N- b Si Witnesses OQ Inventor: @gf-@ MM5/M UNITED STATES P FFlQE.

WILLI-AM OLAND BOURNE, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

ORE-SEPARATOR.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, IVILLIAM OLAND BoURNn, of the city, county, andState of New York, have invented a new and improved apparatus or machinefor separating ores, metals, and other substances of different specificgravities, which I name and designate as an improved bed forore-separators; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawing, making part of this specification, and to theletters of reference marked thereon.

Figure l is a -plan of my said improved bed. Fig. 2 is a verticallongitudinal section. Fig. 3 is an end elevation, and Fig. 4 is aperspective view of the bed inverted.

Similar marks of reference denote the same parts.

My said invention relates to the construction of a bed upon which theore rests, while being operated upon by a current of air or waterpassing upward through said bed.

By reference to my patent of November 24, 1857, and also to my patent ofJune 14th, 1859, the object and mode of using this bed will be morefully apparent. My said bed may however be used on other machinesfurnished with any appropriate apparatus for producing an intermittentor continuous current of air or water upward from beneath the bed forthe purpose of effect-ing a concentration or separation of the heavierfrom the lighter materials operated upon.

I construct a bed-frame a, which is attached to the body of the machineby clamps, hooks, or any similar fastenings which can be quicklyadjusted. This frame is furnished with rails or cross-bars Z), of eitherwood or metal, which serve as a support for the burden which is to restupon them. A piece of coarse wire cloth c or its equivalent is thensecured by screws or nails or otherwise to the top of the frame a and acloth bed CZ is then placed upon the frame over the wire-cloth. Thiscloth-bed is composed of one, two, three, four or more layers of cotton,woolen, or linen cloth, or their equivalent, the texture of which as tocoarseness or lineness, or the number of the cloths, or the mode andform of their arrangement on the whole surface of the machine, must beadjusted or regulated with reference to the kind of ore or other mattersto be operated upon.

e is a guard-frame, which may be all of wood or metal, or in part ofeach, and may be secured as represented by the screws g, g, or otherwiseto a, and is open at one end, where an adjustable slide, f, is placedfor the purpose of regulating the depth at which the materials shall beoperated on, coarse substances requiring a greater depth than those of afine grain. The adjustable slide f is formed with slots, 7i, 7L, and thescrews z', 2'-, that pass through said slots, secure the slide whenadjusted to the proper position.

Before placing the cloth or cloths on the frame I .take pieces of wire,of any suitable kind of metal and cut to a proper length and bend themso as to form a yoke which I pass down through the wire cloth, over thebars or rails b, at convenient distances, say from three to live inchesapart, more or less, and then by turning up the end of the wire yokeunder the said bars or rails or by twisting the ends together apermanent attachment is obtained, (see 71;, 7c, Fig. 4,) which binds thewire cloth, c, to the cross bars I), b. When the cloth-bed cl, has beenfastened in its place by small tacks around its edges, or in anyequivalent manner, I then stitch or quilt the cloths to the wire clothby stitches Z, Z, as seen in Fig. 4, a short stitch being made on theupper side of the bed, and the long stitch made underneath, asrepresented by the red lines. The object of thus stitching down the bedor securing it in any equivalent manner to the frame work beneath is toprevent it from being raised and forced upward by the pressure of thecurrent of air or water from beneath. The operation requires a fixed orfirm surface, but it is not necessary to have it horizontal, as it maybe inclined, concave, or convex or furnished with riifles, blades, orbars or any other contrivance, but to insure a satisfactory action ofthe machine the bed must not be allowed to bag or swell upward by thepressure from beneath, or to be depressed in any part by the materialwhich it sustains.

W'hen the above described yokes or fastenings are not used, the coarsewire cloth may be attached by cords or otherwise. A sheet of coarse wirecloth, or bars ruiming lengthwise or transversely or both, may be usedfor the purpose of protecting the clothbed from the abrasion andattrition which will occur to a greater or less extent in the use of themachine, and may be constructed of such strength as to be a substitutefor the yolres and stitches above described, or rifiles may be adoptedin their place.

The operation of the bed is as follows: The ore or other materials to beoperated upon is prepared by pulverizing in the ordinary mode, andshould be sifted when required, and is fed on the bed at the rear end m,where a hopper is placed, and the current of air passing from beneaththrough the cloth bed is uniformly distributed through the wholesurface, and coming in contact with the ore or other materials the airpermeates and fills the whole mass, so as to cause such a degree ofmobility among the particles, that they readily flow in any directionlike a fluid. The result of this high degree of mobility or fluidity, soto speak, is a rapid and effective deposition of the heavier substances,while the lighter pass off over the waste edge f, of the machine.

In a circular l machine the hopper will be over the center of the bed,and the waste material passes off at the edge.

I do not confine myself to any form of this machine, as I make themeither circular square or oblong, and they may be polyangular, or of anyother form. In a circular machine the upper frame represented by e, maybe dispensed with and the adjustable front edge or rim f, alone used,secured by slots and screws, the same as the slide f. Nor do I confinemyself to the use of the cloth uniformly on the same surface, as theymay be varied in several formsas by using a bed having coarse cloth onone part of the surface, and fine cloth on the other part; or one partof the surface may have one or two cloths, while the other part may havemore. I comprehend all these modifications in my invention, theessential feature being the use of layers of cloth, or theirequivalents, so adjusted attached or regulated in texture and thicknessas to produce uniform pressure and distribution of the water .or airmade use of, reference being had to the coarseness and fineness of thesubstances to be treated. Nor do I confine myself to the form or mode offastening the bed above described to the frame a, on the bars b, forwhen made of wood the bed may be secured to the frame by nails, ortacks, or any equivalent, which I use when proper, the essential featurebeing that of so securing the bed to the frame that the pressure frombeneath shall not undulate or disturb the plane or surface upon whichthe ore rests, but the said plane or surface may have any requiredinclination or conformation. Water may be substituted for air where itsuse is desirable.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent and as not beforeknown or used is the following:

1. A bed for separating ores or similar substances composed of layers offibrous or woven materials, secured by stitches or equivalent means, formaintaininga fixed and firm support to said bed, and preventingunevenness and bagging as set forth.

2. In combination with a bed constructed as set forth, the adjustableplate or rim f, for regulating the depth of the ore on the bed asdescribed.

i In `witness whereof I have` hereunto set my signature this thirtiethday of August, 1860.

WM. OLAND BOURNE. Witnesses:

LEMUnL W. SERRELL. CHAs. H. SMITH.

